Page 43 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

in damaging than preserving the sites. In 1963, Korean scholars excavated the kiln sites of Gwangju,
Jeolla Province, and academic excavations began in the 1990s. Analyses of excavated materials
have confirmed differences in buncheong ware by region and by time period, especially in its
decorative approaches.
In Chungcheong Province, large quantities of undecorated bowls and dishes resembling late
Goryeo celadon, along with inlaid or stamp-decorated shards, have been found at the kiln site at
Boryeong. Fragments inscribed with the government bureau name Jangheunggo illustrate the
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changes in the decoration of buncheong following the foundation of the Joseon dynasty. In Gongju,
where a number of pieces of iron-painted buncheong ware were unearthed, the kilns began oper-
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ation in the early fifteenth century, producing inlaid and stamped types, and in the late fifteenth
century shifted to manufacturing mass-produced iron-painted ceramics that exhibit a distinctive
local character. These kilns then turned out slip-brushed products, before closing in the mid-sixteenth
century. The production pattern of the early sixteenth century is exemplified in the Cheonan area,
where a series of roughly slip-brushed buncheong bowls and plates were made. Buncheong ware
in Chungcheong Province progressed from inlaid and stamped to iron-painted and slip-brushed
designs. Wanju, Jeolla Province, yielded stamped vessels as well as pieces inscribed with the names
of government bureaus, such as Naeseom; similar finds were made at Boryeong in Chungcheong
Province. In contrast, buncheong ware excavated from the kiln of Chunghyo-dong in Gwangju,
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south Jeolla Province, displays distinctive characteristics. Whereas the late fifteenth-century kilns of
Chungcheong Province reflect the popularity of buncheong with iron-painted designs, contemporary
kilns at Chunghyo-dong produced buncheong with incised or sgraffito designs of chrysanthemums,
butterflies, peonies, fish, lotus flowers, birds, and animals.
The Chunghyo-dong site is especially well known for the scientific excavation conducted by
the Gwangju National Museum in 1991, nearly three decades after the preliminary efforts of the
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National Museum of Korea in 1963. The Gwangju National Museum’s excavation discovered four
kilns, from which large quantities of buncheong ware have been unearthed, along with a small
amount of porcelain (see fig. 1.9). Different types of buncheong ceramics were discovered there,
such as bowls, including some with lids; plates; stemmed cups; lids; maebyeongs; bottles, including
flask- and drum-shaped examples; jars; inkstones; and ritual vessels. The pottery exhibits a range
of glaze colors, including gray-green, gray-brown, and dark green, and decorative techniques
such as incising, sgraffito, inlay, stamping, and slip-brushing, with motifs that seem to have been
inspired by daily life.
The porcelain from these kilns comprises for the most part everyday items, such as bowls,
plates, and cups, in relatively simple shapes. The production of porcelain at the kilns that made
both porcelain and buncheong increased slightly in later periods. Many of the pieces found were

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